The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis, launches its fall season this month with two exhibitions highlighting the university’s distinctive legacy of nurturing and exhibiting innovative contemporary art.

The centerpiece of the museum’s fall program is a major group exhibition of works by leading African American contemporary artists, including rarely exhibited works by artists connected with UCD.

Also on view this fall is an immersive sound art installation by the experimental composer John Cage that returns to UCD after premiering at the university nearly 50 years ago.

The Manetti Shrem Museum serves as the exclusive Northern California venue for Dimensions of Black following the exhibition’s acclaimed presentation at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego earlier this year.

Dimensions of Black features more than 30 works by some of the most celebrated African American artists of the past three decades, many with close ties to California.

Featuring works by David Hammons, Dread Scott, Theaster Gates, Lorna Simpson, Kerry James Marshall, Mildred Howard, Carrie Mae Weems and many others, the exhibition explores the artists’ shared interest in shaping a fresh understanding of black aesthetics in figurative and abstract art.

Originally organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the exhibition includes several rarely seen works from the Manetti Shrem Museum’s own collection that have been added exclusively for the Davis presentation.

Among these are multiple works that highlight the university’s history as an incubator for artistic talent, such as a photograph by UC Davis graduate (master’s degree in fine arts) Jessica Wimbley and a sculpture by Horace Washington that was last seen in the seminal 1997 exhibition Reshuffling the Deck: Selections from the UCD Collections.

Highlighting UCDs’ legacy as an incubator for interdisciplinary experimentation is the presentation of 33⅓, an interactive installation by composer John Cage that made its debut at UCD nearly five decades ago.

The 33⅓ exhibition invites visitors to co-create a unique, participatory auditory experience. A trailblazing figure in both contemporary classical music and conceptual art, Cage was among the many nationally prominent artists to occupy a residency at UCD during the 1960s and ’70s.

On Nov. 21, 1969, Cage premiered at UCD his ground-breaking participatory work: a vast, empty auditorium lined around its perimeter with turntables, speakers and more than 300 arbitrarily selected vinyl records. Visitors were invited to play the records at random, creating a cacophonous sound that exemplified Cage’s interest in the use of chance and variation in musical composition. Equal parts conceptual art installation and postmodern performance, 33⅓ makes its reappearance at UCD in homage to its premiere 48 years ago, utilizing records donated over the summer by community members.

Inaugurated in November 2016, the Manetti Shrem Museum represents a significant addition to Northern California’s vibrant arts scene and the latest milestone in UCDs’ rich history as a center for artistic innovation.

The museum’s fall season follows the acclaimed inaugural exhibition Out Our Way, which highlighted the work of artists including Wayne Thiebaud, Roy De Forest, William T. Wiley and others who helped establish the school’s early reputation as a leader among its peers for artistic instruction, a legacy that continues to this day.

“As the Manetti Shrem Museum approaches our first anniversary, we’re delighted to mount a fall season that exemplifies the ethos of openness, accessibility, and experimentation for which UCDs’ arts programs have long been known,” said Founding Director Rachel Teagle. “We’re excited for students, faculty, and the broader community to join us in renewing this creative spirit, as we continue to expand our role in Davis and among a growing national audience.”

The museum will host a Campus Community Opening Celebration on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 5 p.m.